I consider givinghim the short and easy answer, but we’ve come this far. “Do youremember the last time we saw each other in highschool?”
He appears takenaback by the seemingly random question. He searches my face as ifthe answer is written there. Finally, he says, “Yeah. Ido.”
Since Leland andWesley were in the same grade, they graduated at the same time, andI attended their grad ceremony with my parents and Evie. Lelandfound me outside afterward and surprised me by giving me a long,tight hug and telling me how glad he was he’d had a chance to getto know me and how much he’d miss me.
“If Icould just make a gentle suggestion for next year?” he’d said,gripping my shoulders and holding me at arm’s length. “Find somenew friends. You deserve people in your life who see who you reallyare and encourage you to be that person. I don’t think the real youis the one who’s been skipping classes, getting detention, andneglecting assignments.”
“Idon’t know if you remember what you said to me that day,” I say toLeland now. “But it stuck with me. I mean, I was pissed at thetime, but it was only because I didn’t like being called out onstuff that everyone else had let slide for so long.”
“Ihated seeing you wasting your potential,” Leland says quietly.“Wesley talked to me about it one day after he saw us hanging outin the cafeteria. I told him he should talk to you, but he said hedidn’t know how to anymore and he was worried he’d make you angrierthan you already were. I knew it wasn’t my place, but I saw theopportunity and I ran with it. I figured if youdidget mad, better to be mad at mesince I was moving away and likely wouldn’t see youagain.”
“Smart,” I say, chuckling weakly. “And it worked. That summer,I started taking my therapy more seriously, and I started leaningon my real friends again. When school started in the fall, Idistanced myself from that old crowd and asked Hollie to bring meinto her new circle of friends. I was determined to turn thingsaround and not waste my senior year.”
“Thatcouldn’t have been easy.”
“Noteasy, but worth it.” A lot of people still treated me differently,and some of that old group were jerks to me, including Nelle, whoaccused me of thinking I was better than them. That’s one of themain reasons I couldn’t and still don’t understand why she’d evenwant me at her reunion.
When Itell Leland that, he says, “I’m not sure why I was invited either.I hung out with a few people from that group, but was neverreallypartof it.And I wasn’t friends with Nelle. I could practicallyfeelthe drama rollingoff her in waves, so I steered clear whenever possible.”
“So weshould both just decline and forget about it, right?” Iask.
“Andforget about our little run-in with Nelle here tonight?”
“Yeah.I mean, I’m sure she’ll tell at least a few people what happened,but if anyone asks, we can say we broke up. Wedidtell her it wasn’t serious, so itdoesn’t have to be a big deal.”
My phone chimesfrom inside my purse. I intend to ignore it, but Leland tells me toget it while he goes to the bathroom. There are two messages, andboth names make my stomach tighten with apprehension. I open thetext from Tannis first.
I knowyou didn’t mean what you said earlier. I’m free now if you wannahook up.
I roll my eyes anddelete the message without responding. God forbid she apologize forher behavior or for leaving me hanging yet again. Even if she did,I meant what I told her earlier: I’m done. I deserve better than‘wanna hook up?’ and someone who puts everyone and everything elsebefore me.
The next messageis from Sylvie Bell, who I’ve been in touch with on and off sincemoving back to Bellevue, and who’s one of the many people Nelleinvited to the reunion.
HiStella. Sorry to do this, but I thought you had a right to know.Nelle sent a group message to a few of us saying she ran into youtonight and you ‘claimed’ you were dating Leland Levesque, but shethinks you’re making it up. Anyway, she’s as ridiculous and messyas she was back in the day, and talking to her makes me feel likeI’m back in high school. Why did I agree to go to this reunion?!Please tell me you’ll be there so it won’t be as awful as I’mimagining. *Hugs*
Wow, Nelle didn’twaste any time.
Leland returns tohis seat, his eyes moving from my face to the phone in my hand andback again. “What’s wrong?”
Rather than tryingto explain, I simply hand him the phone with Sylvie’s message onthe screen. A quirked eyebrow is his only reaction as he reads. Iexpect him to hand the phone back when he’s finished, but instead,he hauls his chair around to my side of the table so we’re sittingside by side. My phone now has the camera app open in selfie mode.Leland puts his arm around me and pulls me close to his side, ourfaces almost touching. He smiles at the camera while my image onthe screen appears bewildered. Leland squeezes me closer and keepssqueezing me until I laugh. He snaps a picture and shows it to meimmediately. It’s cute; he’s smiling broadly, his eyes lit withhumor. I’m grinning, mid-laugh, with my head tilted in Leland’sdirection.
“Do youtrust me?” he asks. At my nod, he sends the picture to himself,then returns his chair to its original position. I watch as hepulls his phone from his pocket and his fingers fly over thescreen.
He sets his phonedown at the same time as mine chimes again. Without picking it upfrom the table, I can see the notification: Leland posted in thereunion group and tagged me. He tilts his chin toward my phone, soI pick it up and open the post. Leland has shared the picture of uswith the caption ‘Stella and I are looking forward to seeingeveryone at the reunion!’
“I wantto point out that you have absolutely nothing to prove,” he says.“Wehave nothingto prove. I just think it could be kind of fun.” When I remainsilent, he shifts in his chair, tapping his fingers on the table.“Say something, Stels.”
Not many peopleknow me well enough to call me that. Wesley and my three bestfriends do—among a million other nicknames, which is a byproduct ofhaving the same core group of friends since birth—but other friendshave always called me by my full name. It’s a small thing,seemingly inconsequential, and yet the familiarity of the wayLeland says it creates a warm, tingly sensation in mychest.
“GuessI should send you that friend request now, huh?” I say.
CHAPTER FIVE
I return toBellevue Village the next day to meet Leland. He had to leave lastnight before we could figure out how this ‘pretending to date forthe reunion’ thing would work, and he asked me to meet him today athis sister’s shop so we could discuss it.
I approachFandomTown a few minutes before our planned meeting time. The frontwindows have been covered with thick brown butcher paper to blockthe view inside, and the words ‘Coming Soon’ are scrawled acrossthe sheets in various colors. I slip into the alley Leland told meabout last night and go around to the back of the building, whereFelicity lets me in when I knock.
“It’sso good to see you again!” she says as she ushers me inside. “Icouldn’t believe it when Lee told me you were back in town too. Iwas always so bummed I didn’t get your contact info before you leftToronto.”
